The Distance Light Can Travel How far can it travel?

[Moolkye 0]

I understand that light has a speed to it, but does light really exist as an object?The reason I ask this is because of a simple thought. How far will light travel on it's own? I mean light is a result of heat. Therefore, the bigger the source of heat the farther away the light can be seen.But how far is is that? Is it determined upon the amount of heat being produced? Or is distance based upon the physical object of light, if that is what it is, and how far it travels due to the force expelling it?If light is an object, then what is it made of?If it is not an object, could each individual object other than light have a reaction to whatever is in light making it viewable in all it's color and detail. Example: You have a light in a room and a couch. The room is completely dark, no light. You turn on the light and instead of thinkign that the light produces the couch to be seen, the couch's materials react to the light in a chemical sense and illuminate themselves to be seen.Just a strange thought.

Edited May 10, 2006 by BuffaloHELP (see edit history)

[Cerebral Stasis 0]

Light has properties of both particles and waves. How far the light is able to travel before it loses it's visiblity is determined by it's frequency, just like the frequency of a sound determines how far it can travel before it is no longer heard.

[Reaper 0]

but with light tho the distance it can travel before being lost is pretty far except most the time it does not go that far because something gets in the way which will prevent you from seeing it even tho it could travel far enough for you to see it. for example if you could find a huge flat piece of land with no trees or mountains a standard torch should be able to be seen from quite a distance away but the minute something interferes with it you will not see it. and to find a huge piece of land that has no objects on it for the distances you will need would be almost impossible unless you can get up high so nothing will interfere

[Moolkye 0]

I guess space is abou tthe best place to see that then huh? I have a lot of these thought and at times I like to come to a place where I can ask the general community. i think I found a great place to put these ideas out. Thanks guys!

[shadowx 0]

i never understood something about light...if it is an energy how can it have particals (photons i belive?) and if it is not an energy how is it created/released? energy is not mass and mass is not energy yet light seems to be both? makes no sense what so ever!Also presuming light has mass why cant we use it for moving things? someone probably has a theory how but would it be possible to use light to launch a spaceship for example?Also i was under the impression that light can travel an infinite distance but the thing that stops us seeing it is things getting in the way (as said) and the way it spreads out which is why a laser can be seen MUCH firther away than an ordinary torch even if they were both as bringt as each other when the light first left the lens? am i right or wrong? i thought that the reason we cant see it if its too far away is that the light has spread out so much that only one or two or maybe no photons hit our eye because they are so far between each other.

[Alissa 0]

If it is not an object, could each individual object other than light have a reaction to whatever is in light making it viewable in all it's color and detail. Example: You have a light in a room and a couch. The room is completely dark, no light. You turn on the light and instead of thinkign that the light produces the couch to be seen, the couch's materials react to the light in a chemical sense and illuminate themselves to be seen.

That is really interesting...

[Reaper 0]

If it is not an object, could each individual object other than light have a reaction to whatever is in light making it viewable in all it's color and detail. Example: You have a light in a room and a couch. The room is completely dark, no light. You turn on the light and instead of thinkign that the light produces the couch to be seen, the couch's materials react to the light in a chemical sense and illuminate themselves to be seen.

It is like that other thing that i have heard .................................................does a candle light up a room or does it just suck up the darkness because when you throw it away the wick is all black LOL

[True2Earn 0]

I mean light is a result of heat. Therefore, the bigger the source of heat the farther away the light can be seen.

Correction: light is not a result of heat. Take a stone and feel it. It's cool to the touch. Put it in a very dark room. You cannot see it. Now take this stone and place it in the oven at 500 degrees for an hour. The stone is now very hot. Put the stone in a dark room. Hmmm... you can't see it. Heat is infrared radiation. You can learn more about it from NASA. For visible light see the NASA link here. The best place to learn about light (being composed of "particles" called photons is HERE. The strangest thing about photons is that they display properties of particles and waves simultanously. Though we know tons about photons, it's still a mystery what they actually are.

[hulunes 0]

Correction: light is not a result of heat. Take a stone and feel it. It's cool to the touch. Put it in a very dark room. You cannot see it. Now take this stone and place it in the oven at 500 degrees for an hour. The stone is now very hot. Put the stone in a dark room. Hmmm... you can't see it. Heat is infrared radiation. You ...

hoo...this really a vivid explanation above...i would like to check the link you gave. Edited May 15, 2006 by hulunes (see edit history)

[leeleelee 0]

LIGHTLight is a type of energy (and the tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see). The fastest that light can travel is 186,300 miles per second. Visible light has a wavelength from 10-7m to 10-8m. LIGHT SPECTRUMLight can be broken up into into its component colors (for example, by passing light through a prism) - this is a spectrum. Light from the Sun can be broken up into the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). The different colors of light correspond to the different energies of the light waves: for example, blue light has more energy than red light. Different astronomical objects emit different electromagnetic spectra (spectra is the plural of spectrum), and these spectra are used to analyze the body.